I’m reaching way back, here — this music is just about before my time. The music I’m referring to is Scripture in Song, by David and Dale Garratt. My mom used to have two of their albums on cassette (remember cassettes?), and the music is wonderful.
It’s basically what you would expect — portions of scripture set to music. I believe the songs were first written and/or published in the late sixties/early seventies, and the music definitely reflected the times; the recordings that I remember reminded me of 60s folk music, occasionally edging toward folk-rock (maybe). If my memory serves me correctly, I believe many of these sorts of songs were “written” more or less spontaneously, and only after the fact recorded and written down. That spontaneity remained with the songs, and many of them are very moving in a way that I’ve found to be fairly rare in modern Christian music.
I just found a few of the old songbooks on Amazon, but copies of the recordings themselves are elusive, to say the least. That is, I can’t find them anywhere. Anyone out there heard of these, and where they might be found?
Sorry, I only go back as far as some early-70’s Petra, or if you want mainstream, a little “El Shaddai” from Amy Grant in the mid-late 70’s. Oh yeah, and some Imperials (when Russ Taff was their lead singer) too.
Sorry – never heard of them. You could, however, try Ian White, a Scottish singer who recorded the whole of Psalms.
Sounds interesting; I’ll look for it.
A midwestern band called Waterdeep had an album a few years back which was more or less scripture set to music; it was quite popular (“Enter the Worship Circle” was the title, I think) but it wasn’t quite the same.
My parents have these records/LP’s. We are listening to them now. I am also trying to find out where I can get songbooks. No joy in locating the actual LP’s.
Cool! You might try Amazon for songbooks, I think there are a few sellers who have a couple copies. Hope you find them!
I am presently converting the very old audio cassettes of David and Dale Garratt
SCRIPTURE IN SONG into wav files and mp3s as I cannot find their CDs
Elvino; if you feel it’s okay, please let me know if I could get a copy of some of those mp3s. If the albums are unavailable, I hardly think it could be viewed as stealing… :-)
Phil, Did Elvino get back to you about the MP3 / WAV files. We had the original cassette tapes in the 70’s and they have worn out. I would really like to find copies of the songs which did me a lot of good back then. In the UK the song books were published by Bethel Publications in Manchester. This was run by AOG minister Philip Powell who later moved to Australia. I think he is the Phillip Powell who is now Christian Witness Ministries. I don’t know if he will know where the Garrett’s music or music books can be found these days but it could be worth asking him. If you email me I could let you have their web site if you can’t track it down by a search.
Let me know about the MP3s.
Nope — I’ve not gotten ahold of anything yet, as far as mp3 files go.
You might have some luck finding songbooks on Amazon; I found Scripture in Song volumes 1 & 2, used, in good condition.
Thanks for the tip; I’m still trying to track the music down, somehow.
Phil, I have found our old tapes and done some work on them and also another by the Garrets called “Call to War”. Email me privately if you want to know more. Randall
I am also interested in these early recordings of ’scripture in song’. I am a teacher currently putting together a class called Integrated Music. In the curriculum I have made a lesson called the “What are the roots of contemporary worship”.
Thanks, Jay
We are just now in the process of producing a new recording, the first in over 13 years.
We are also setting up the above web site which will cover our history as well as what we are doing now.
I expect that both the web site and recording titled ‘a Love Story’ to be released on the internet in February next year
Thanks for the comment, David! That’s cool news, and I’m looking forward to the new recording… any chance of the old one’s being re-released as well? ;)
Either way, that sounds great to me. I’ll be checking your site for updates.
It is so cool to hear from David, who inspired me in my Chriatian Music walk at a conference on Paraise and Worship music at Eleanora Heights in Sydeny in 1979. The Camp featured Phil Keaggy…
David if you see this…there is no mention of you anywahere on the web….where has Scripture in Song gone?
And please keep me posted,
Mark Keough Adelaide
South Australia
What a joy to see a message from David, and to see a new one is coming soon! The memory of those 70’s Scripture Songs still sustains me, and, as I no longer have mine, I have searched and searched for copies of records or tapes, without success so far. It is interesting to see so many others searching for them, too. Thank you for them, David and Dale.
Great to find these comments! I’d just begun to search for the Scripture in Song work by David and Dale when I found this string. I too found their music inspiring – and sometimes even sustaining. Best wishes for your new project Dave and thanks to you and Dale for the songs I grew up with.
For Christmas my mom just sent me (among other things) some old cassettes — she had both volumes of “Prepare Ye The Way”. These were the ones I remembered listening to, so it was a cool gift.
I think it’s great that so many people are still interested in their music, though it’s still rather funny to me that this post has become the most commented upon post I’ve ever written. ;-)
Hi,
just found where you can get the song books if you’re interested: http://orders.koorong.com.au/search/details.jhtml?code=0000006076. I’ve got the songs from the album Celebrate on MP3. Where do we stand legally on sharing music that is out of print and has been for years? If everything’s OK legally I’ve got no problem emailing them around (though since I am just on dial-up I might see if I can email them to one person with a faster connection and then they can distribute them further).
Just thinking, when I was recently doing an internet search for Scripture in Song music I came across this web site http://www.scriptureinsong.com (that now appears to be disabled). This site was of a pair of couples who had written scripture to music to teach their children scripture. The songs were free to download which I did. Now this is some of my favourite music. If anybody would like these MP3s let me know.
Nigel.
I had a Scripture in Song Book from Dave and Dale Garret I obtained in my over seas work in the 70. I also worked in Christian video studio in Switzerland where we video taped them.
We used of their songs in my wedding only to have the singer loose it. I have been looking for years for one of these song books.
If anyone has one to sell or knows where I can get one. Please!! let me know. These songs need to be taught and are fun to learn
I have just been given the double LP Call to War which I was very glad of since my cassette copy is so worn out and we have nothing to play them on now. I am going to convert these to MP3s. If these aren’t going to be released on CD, I could make the MP3s available, if it was okay. I have also got a copy of the Scripture in Song blue book if anyone wants to know the chords or words to particular songs.
Haven’t seen David and Dale’s website up and running yet. Any news on that?
I believe a contact for the songbooks is the Salvation Army Bookshop, Cuba Street, Wellington and they can also be ordered in Australia I believe.
Wow, I was brought up on these songs as a kid, and still know a few of them, but not as many as I want. I would really love the books that I used to have when my dad was running a homegroup back in the early to mid 90s. I will never stop loving these songs, and as a young mother of two, I would love to teach my children these songs also so that they can grow up knowing them too. How can I get these books if I dont have a credit card? Im amazed that I found this site!!
I have trached down all (I think)of the Scripture In Song Albums transferred to CD or MP3. They are superb. Go to http://www.one-way.org/mp3s
You can purchase the songbooks with words or without words for Scripture in Song Song of the Nations, Songs of the Kingdom from http://www.Koorong.com.au
Any news on the Scripture in Song website or new release? I’ve been hunting the web and can’t find anything yet.
I’ve also done searches for “The Early Years” compilation on CD and come up with nothing!! Any ideas?
Also, does anyone know what has happened to Integrity Music? Their website is still operating, but you can’t actually get in touch with them and stores (Word, Koorong etc) can’t order anything from them. They’ve also stopped their mail clubs without any notification….
Those Scripture in Song albums you have there are great. However, they are only the early ones and it is not all of them by any means. The other ones are Songs of Praise, Songs of the Kingdom, Call to War, Song of Joy and Combat. This is probably not all of them, though.
I have a copy of Scripture in Song “THE EARLY YEARS” on cd. If you would like a copy let me know. I maybe able to upload it to LIMEWIRE as mp3 album.
Contact me on teddles11@yahoo.com.au.
After some frustration, much searching and a lot of God’s grace, I have the MP3’s for the following songs. Contact me at pbarney at the yahoo place:
I’m still looking for Prepare Ye the Way Disk 1, if anyone has it!
Praise the Name of Jesus
Prepare Ye The Way (Disk 2)
Songs of the Kingdom
Thou Art Worthy
How cool – a tribute thread to Dave and Dale Garratt and Scripture in Song. I was brought up on this stuff, and rediscovered it in my parents’ tape collection last year. It is like nothing that has ever been produced since – just such powerful music. I’m trying to learn them so I can play them on piano. Great stuff. Cool to see a comment from Dave too. It is astounding the lack of profile they have on the web. I’m in the process of creating a wikipedia article.
Scripture in Song and David & Dale Garratt were a part of the music that was inspired by the revival that was going on at the time. It was a time of refreshing to be sure and nothing has compared with it since, although there have been many attempts.
I play all the CDs regularly and have shared many with friends and family. I have the following CDs:
GARRATT, DAVID & DALE THOU ART WORTHY
GARRATT, DAVID & DALE PRAISE THE NAME OF JESUS
GARRATT, DAVID & DALE PREPARE YE THE WAY PART 1
GARRATT, DAVID & DALE PREPARE YE THE WAY PART 2
GARRATT, DAVID & DALE FATHER MAKE US ONE
GARRATT, DAVID & DALE SONGS OF THE KINGDOM (2 LP SET)
GARRATT, DAVID & DALE ALL THY WORKS SHALL PRAISE THEE (1977)(2LP SET)
GARRATT, DAVID & DALE SONGS OF PRAISE (1980)(2LP SET)
SCRIPTURE IN SONG ALL THY WORKS SHALL PRAISE THEE (1977)(2LP SET)
SCRIPTURE IN SONG SONGS OF PRAISE (1980)(2LP SET)
I hope all the Scripture in Song titles are re-released. I think there would be great interest by many people, myself for one.
Hi Randy,
Would you mind share your collection with me as well? Is no where to find it here in Malaysia. Appreciate your help.
Try your local Uniting Church. They probably have word and/or music books in their cupboards and someone may well have tapes. We still use quite a few of these songs at our church
So excited to find the info regarding songs by Dale Garrett. Have been looking for years for Prepare Ye the way 1 and 2 and Thou art worthy. I had these over 35 years ago and lent them and never got them back. These recordings made such an impression that even today when I read a passage of scripture from them I have to sing it. I do have All Thy works shall praise Thee Vol 1 (LP) but would dearly love the above. I also have an extra Music Book of Scripture in Song Vol 1 which I found in a charity shop if anyone is interested. It is a bit battered but no pages missing.
I am thrilled to see these responses to Dave and Dale’s music. I used to play them all the time when my children were small. I think I still have the records somewhere but have no means of playing them now. I can remember chunks of the scriptures when they are read in Church just because of these recordings. I desperately would like to get hold of CD’s when they are released. Please could someone let me have the details so that I can order them from my Christian bookshop.
As a young believer in the late 70s, David & Dale’s music was a great inspiration. They influenced my interest in worship, music and in the Lord. My favourite is Though the fig tree doth not blossom … Yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I WANT ANY MATERIAL ON THEIR MUSIC PLEASE!!!
Yes, Though the Fig Tree was also my favorite. Another Scripture in Song tune that has stayed with me is My Glory and the Lifter of My Head. Were these two on the same album, or in the same songbook?
we used to have bible studies and sing these songs they are truly spiritual i have the lp’s if you need a copy my fav was FOR FROM HIM and BUT WE SEE JESUS SEE YOU IN HEAVEN…
From Philip & Mary Greenslade UK
Found your Blog, Phil, while playing the only CD we have – The Early Years: Scripture In Song 1968-1985. The Garratts were formative in the early days of charismatic renewal right across the world. Good to hear they are still active. Their music represents a dimension of praise that is accessible to everyone. It is our view that this aspect has been swamped by the present tide of ‘Contemporary Worship’. It needs to be recovered. Does anyone agree?
We have the early cassettes and LPs but not the technology – yet -to convert them to CDs via MP3s and Ipods.
Would like to get copies of ALL David and Dale Garratts Scripture in Song work. I have the Prepare Ye The Way LP and have justpurchased Scriptur in Song SOngs of The SPirit 2lp from ebay.
I have recorded my copies to cd maybe someone can let me know if it is legal to share these?
Hi- I used to have the albums and have been praying to get some of these songs on MP3- they are anointed! Is there a link or a site that has them??? I would be willing to pay.
I can only ditto every comment above. I truly wish they would re-release every one of their recordings on CD’s. I would buy every one. Can anyone answer about the legality of sharing them if they are no longer available? I do have most of their records, though some are pretty scratched.
My folks had every one of their albums so I grew up on some of this stuff. Anyway last year I got contacted to help them record a new album, the first in about 17 years. It’s a refreshing new (or old) take on christian music and the website is seriously funky
try http://www.davidanddalegarratt.com
I’ve also been hassling David to re-release some of the old stuff on CD and DVD
I love their songs. I grew up with them and I have found their site and you can get their albums still. Look this site up http://www.davidanddalegarratt.com/
God bless
Spence
http://www.davidanddalegarratt.com/
Was surfing and came across your site adn your inquiring. I found this that has all their downloads of these songs you are asking about. God bless. Cindy
Hi Phil, If you go to iTunes shop and type in 'David and Dale Garratt' you will find some albums there to purchase and download on to your hard drive.
Every blessing
Ian Chapman